6 Using Emotions and Scarcity Flashcards
Ch8
Scarcity
=
cognitive shortcut, something that was of no particular value, in the beginning, became highly desirable when its accessibility was of short durability
-> the rarer an item is, the higher its value
-precious mistakes = items with flaws that therefore deviate from the norm but at the same time hold extremely high value for collectors
-people are generally more motivated by potential losses than potential gains
TECHNIQUES:
-limited numbers = limited supplies for one product and that a constant availability cannot be guaranteed
-deadline technique =
temporal availability of an item, rather than its restricted quantity, deprived of the time to engage in a conscious, efficient analysis of the deal’s pros and cons
Ch8
Psychological reactance theory
=
whenever people are deprived of their freedom, they will react against this by wanting this freedom more than before
-Terrible Twos: children at the age of two first engage in reactive behavior, more contrary behavior and resistance to outside pressure, when babies first recognize themselves as individuals, resulting into a basic concept of autonomy, reactance seems like a mean to gather information, Children are testing their limitations concerning freedom
Ch8
Psychological reactance theory
Romeo and Julia effect
= impact of parental interventions on romantic relationships and the resulting psychological reactance in their teenage
- > more problems in teenage relationships, but also more love for each other and a higher desire to get married
- > parental interference was reduced, so did the feelings for each
- rebellion against restriction of freedom is the teenage years -> increased sense of individuality and autonomy
- traditional authority = counterproductive
Ch8
Psychological reactance theory Pt.2
-what we perceive is simply an increased desire to own these products. Unable to make sense of this, we ascribe more positive characteristics to those things we are deprived of
-Censorship: makes us want this information even more, it also leads to a more favorable position toward that information
-Official Censorship: banned political or sexual material,
piece of evidence is banned from court -> influences jury greatly
Commodity theory = information that is more exclusive because it can only be retrieved from one specific source for example, is rated as more persuasive
Ch8
Optimal conditions for the scarcity principle
- scarcity is more powerful in some situations than in others
- NEW SCARCITY = Instead of being exposed to two cookies right from the beginning, subjects were first presented with a jar of ten cookies which was replaced with the jar containing only two shortly before they had to try them
- opposite to new scarcity = constant scarcity
- revolutions are more likely to occur when a period of increased economic and social growth is followed by a slight decrease in these conditions
- COMPETITION: powerful motivator
Ch8
How can exploitation of the scarcity principle be prevented?
- rather examine our feelings that are triggered by the effect of excitement that scarcity produces
- feeling of inexplicable arousal as a warning sign
Art1
Fear appeal
-fear appeals are based on either legitimate concerns
or dark, irrational fears (prejudice)
-Fear appeals powerful because they channel out thoughts away from careful consideration of the issue at hand and toward plans for ridding ourselves of the fear
-
Art1
What are factors that make a fear-arousing appeal more or less effective?
-the more frightened a person is by a communication, the more likely he or she is to take positive preventive action
-principle of fear-then-relief =
arousal of fear and its subsequent relief distract attention from evaluating the request
-people who had a good opinion of themselves were the ones most likely to moved by high degrees of fear arousal
-people with low opinions of themselves are least likely to take immediate action when confronted with great fear, but after a delay, they react like high esteem people
-if recipients of a fear appeal perceive that there is no way to cope effectively with a threat -> bury head in the sand, even high self-esteem people
Art1
Fear appeal
Summary
Fear appeal is most effective when
- it scares the hell out of people
- offers a specific recommendation for overcoming the fear-arousing threat
- recommended action is perceived as effective for reducing the threat
- the message recipient believes that he or she can perform the recommended action
Example: War on drugs - offer them something to say yes
How legitimate is fear?
Art2
Motivational appeals
Motivational Appeals DEF =
external inducements, often of an emotional nature, that are designed to increase an individual´s drive to undertake some course of action
-External inducements = incentives that exist apart from the substance of the message itself -> alter people´s moods, feelings, emotions as a mean of persuasion
Art2
Emotional Marketing
- Attachment theory: people develop emotional ties to brands
- people buy for emotional reasons, then justify their purchases with logic
- emotional ads outperformed nonemotional ads
- emotions do not rule all our decisions
- highly involved receivers favor high quality arguments and evidence (central processing)
- when people agree with a message, they perceive it as rational, if they don’t, they see the message as emotional
Art2
Fear appeals
Fear level or Intensity
-the more fear- the more vulnerable the receiver feels and more likely to be persuaded
! for this general rule to apply -> several conditions must be satisfied - identified in the extended parallel processing model
Art2
Fear appeals
The extended parallel process model (EPPM)
when a message leads to fear, the person can respond in one of 3 ways:
- ignore message, believe he is not at risk (perceived vulnerability)
- perceives he is at risk, constructive problem solving (danger control)
- Fixating on fear (fear control) -> worrying about worry, denial, avoidance, panic
- perceived vulnerability and danger control = essential to a fear appeal´s success
- perceived efficiany = person´s belief that there is a clear course of action to avoid threat
- response efficacy and self-efficacy = important components of perceived efficacy -> if both are present, person is more likely to engage in danger control
Art2
Appeals to pity and guilt
- feelings of guilt made people comply
- guilt appeals should be designed to emphasise the positive self-feelings that come from doing the right thing, rather than focusing on further loss of face
- more feelings of guilt and sympathy if stigma was uncontrollable, more feelings of anger and reluctance if stigma was controllable
Art2
Humorous Appeals
Humor as an indirect form of influence
- humor tends to operate in a more roundabout manner = peripheral route to persuasion
- 2 well established ways in which humor assists persuasion = capturing and increasing liking
- social proof: laughter
Art2
Humorous Appeals
Humor and credibility
- humor tends to enhance perceptions of trustworthiness and goodwill but dimishes perceptions of expertise and competence
- increases perceived social attractiveness
- can enhance perceptions of communication competence or the ability to exhibit social know how in communicative situations
Art2
Humorous Appeals
Self-Disparaging Humor
- ability to laugh about one-self = friendly and good-natured
- self-disparing humor leads to lower ratings of speaker competence -> avoid self-disparaging humor if your credibility is low to being with
Art2
Humorous Appeals
Is humor persuasive?
humor enhances at least 2 measures of persuasion: attitude towards brand and purchase intentions
-sleeper effect = humor may grow on people over time, leading to more persuasion over time
Art2
Humorous Appeals
Maximizing Humor´s potential
- related humor, which integrates the humor into the content of the message
- add gravity towards end of humor-laden message - not all fun and games
- don’t overdo it
Art2
Pride and Patriotism
patriotism has a positive effect on consumer´s intentions to purchase domestic as opposed to foreign brands but didn’t alter perceptions of brand quality or reliability
-persuader appears to be cashing in on a patriotic ploy - receivers may reject message
Art2
Sex appeals
- objectification theory: females are more likely to be seen as objects or things, portrayed as passive, submissive, subordinate, disembodied, silenced, occupying less space than men
- males more receptive to sexual imagery than females
How sex sells: functions as a peripheral cue to persuasion, stimulate an emotional reaction in the receiver
- If you use the product, you will be sexier
- if you use product other sexy people will be attracted to you
Art2
How Sex appeals can backfire
- sex appeals may not function the same way in a professional setting compared to a social setting
- target audience may resent use of sexual appeals
- could be a distraction -> inhibit receiver recall
- mild sex appeal might not stand out, a strong sex appeal might distract - produces undesirable social consequences -> self-objectification -> lower self-esteem, negative body image…
Art2
Warmth appeals
warmth: sentimental, family, warm, fuzzy feeling
- works through association
- can be effective, depends on believablity
Art2
Ingratiation
Ingratiation = flattery
- lead to being viewed as more motivated, more qualified for leadership, higher satisfaction
- even when an ulterior motive is evident, flattery can exert subtle, lasting effects
Explanations:
- tends to increase liking
- perceptions of similarity
- social labeling
Categories:
- other enhancement (paying compliments)
- opinion conformity (agreeing with target)
- self-presentation
- performing favors
Art2
Combination of appeals
- treat of punishment + promise of reward
- humor + fear
- guilt + pity
- benefits to combining appeals, may work better combined
- danger: appeals might contradict each other
Art2
Motivational Appeals
Summary
Types:
fear, guilt, pity, humor, patriotism, sex, warmth, ingratiation
.> facilitating persuasion
Lec
Use emotions to persuade
- Fear
- Mood
- Flattery
- Guilt: Reciprocity (obligation to return favors), Commitment
Lec
Emotional Appeals
Use recipient’s subjective feelings, affect, arousal, emotions, and tension states as the basis for securing influence
Lec
Basic Process
- Arouse emotion and than offer the target a way of responding to that emotion (that just happens to be the desired action)
- Target becomes preoccupied with emotion, unable to critically analyze, and thus complies, or..
- Target channels all thoughts and energies toward removing the threat, does not think about much else
Lec
Fear-them-relieve technique
Arousal of fear and its subsequent relief distracts attention from evaluating the request
Other theories that could explain results?
- Goal framing theory (?)
- Theory of self-concept maintenance (?)
Lec
Theory of self-concept maintenance
- Potential negative update of self-concept
- Negative emotions: e.g. guilt
- Moral accounting
Lec
Moral accounting and licensing
- Balancing the unethical
- Financial windfall ->Hedonic spending
- Financial windfall (ethically questionable circumstances) -> Ethical spending
- More likely to help other after unethical act, norm violation, hurting someone
Example:
Having moral credits,
Negative spill-over effects
vs response generalization
Lec
Moral cleansing
Attempt to rid one self of negative feelings after unethical act by mental appeasement
Lec
Affect heuristic
- Decisions based on affect rather than deliberate choices
- Simply feeling – fear, pleasure, etc
- Emotional first impression can form a decision, even though the option appears to be inferior e.g., buying a house
Lec
Fear appeals
A communication that attempts to influence attitudes and behaviors through the threat of some danger
Fear and elaboration: Negative threat-related emotion increases the elaboration of (threat-related) information
Lec
Vivid appeals
- Emotionally interesting
- Concrete and image provoking, immediate
-Example: recommendation for making house more energy efficient when vivid language was used
You have a naked attic that is facing winter without clothes
The attic needs insulation
Lec
Emotion VS mood
-Emotion: strong affective reaction directed at a person or object ->
Specific, causal
-Mood: affective reaction not related to a specific goal -> general
Lec
Mood and information processing
- Negative mood: Focus on the content of the message, Systematic processing
- Positive mood: Focus on aspects not related to content, Heuristic processing
- Tendency to try to maintain positive mood, and to change negative mood into positive mood
Lec
Affect-as-information
Attribute mood to object – misattribution
-Mood as heuristic: I feel good, so the product must be good
Lec
Mood and helping
- Effect mood depends on which goal frame(hedonic/ gain/ normative) is focal in a given situation
- Mood influences helping when people are in hedonic frame
- Mood no influence on helping in normative goal frame
Lec
Scarcity
Opportunities become more valuable when they are or become less available, motor of scarcity = loss aversion
- Less = best
- Rare = valuable
- Loss = worst (loss aversion)
Why is it powerful?
- Heuristic: typically, items that are difficult to get are better (less = best, rare = valuable)
- Loss of freedom (We hate to lose freedom)
Lec
Reactance theory by Breh,
If personal freedom is threatened or reduced, people are motivated to reestablish the threatened freedom
- Whenever a free choice is threatened or limited, the need to retain freedom makes us want goods and services significantly more than before
- When someone tells you to do something, the activity becomes less attractive
- Psychological reactance makes us want products more
- To make sense of our heightened desire for the item, we begin to assign it positive qualities
Lec
Scarcity of information: censor
- If information is banned, we want to receive it to a greater extent and become more favorable toward it than before ban
- Scarce information is more persuasive
- Increase agreement with unpopular positions by having the message restricted
Lec
When does scarcity work best?
-NEW SCARCITY rated more favorably than constant scarcity
People see a thing as more desirable when it recently has become less available than when it has been scarce all along
-More attracted to scarce resources when we have to compete with other for them
Lec
Scarce items and symbolic value
- Obtaining scarce item says something about you to self/ other
- Failure to obtain scarce item implies that the self is lacking
- Feeling unique and self-worth -> Basis for conspicuous consumption
Lec
Competition for scarce resources
We want items most when we are in competition of scarce items:
- Social proof
- Competition
Lec
Scarcity and rivalry
- Auction: aim to beat your competitor
- Winner pays too much
- In the end, winner feels and speaks like a loser, and loser feels and speaks like a winner
Lec
Anticipated regret
- Regret = negative emotion experienced when realizing or imagining that our present situation would have been better, had we decided differently
- Anticipated regret: imagine what you will lose by not engaging in particular actions
- Decision makers make choices to reduce anticipated regret
Lec
Scarcity in practice
- Unique formula
- Phone call when in a conservation
- Sale
- Limited-number
- No longer in stock
- Ask commitment when it looks least available
- Time limit
